Quarantine Hair Growth Journey: Twists, Scalp Massages, and Tea Rinses

Like many of you, unless you are an essential worker (and if you are, thank you so much for all that you are doing), I too am stuck in the house. I think we are approaching week 8 or 9 at home.  When I'm not working remotely, I try to keep myself busy by checking on friends and family, exercising, teaching fitness classes virtually, watching movies and tv shows (all recommendations are welcome), and taking care of my hair. On the hair front, I decided that I would really take this time to "baby" my hair by doing scalp massages, spending extra time deep conditioning, exploring tea rinses, and protective styling. While I'm typically a wash and go girl, since I ain't got nowhere to go...... I've decided to "twist and stay." :) Here is some information about the steps I've been taking to both retain length and grow my hair.

Pre-Poo

While I have used a "pre poo" from time-to-time before COVID-19, I have been using it pretty regularly during this quarantine.  I usually use a combination of one or two products including fresh aloe (we have three aloe plants) and the Natty Naturals Leave-In Conditioner (I like the Pomegranate scent.)  My scalp feels divine when I apply the fresh aloe and I usually save some to use as an overnight mask on my face. The Natty Naturals Leave-in Conditioner plays well with fresh aloe and has tremendous slip. I apply the Leave-in Conditioner with the fresh aloe on dry hair. The slip of the conditioner is unreal and makes detangling extremely easy. The aloe moisturizes and strengthens my hair while also giving it tremendous shine. I recommend twisting your hair  (I usually have between 6-8 twists) with a pre-poo the night before wash day (so that your wash day isn't prolonged.) 

Oils/Serums

There are a handful of hair growth oils and serums that I have been using to stimulate hair growth. In general, I try to use products that have ayurvedic ingredients like rice, brahmi, chebe, amla, neem, msm, and essential oils like lavender, and peppermint. As a general matter, I'm not much of a "DIY naturalista" aside from adding Belle Bar Organic mask powders to my deep conditioners, or blending some fresh aloe as a "pre-poo." If you are like me, and prefer to use products that are already prepared/mixed, check out the oils/serums that I have been using for my daily scalp massages.

Righteous Roots Oil
Belle Bar Organic Onion and Garlic Oil
Curls and Potions Blends Scalp Potion (limited edition)
Curls and Potions Chebe Growth Rice Water 
Alodia Flourish Hair and Scalp Herbal Infusion 

Tea Rinses

(Pictured: Belle Bar Organic moisturizing and green tea rinses mixed together, Innersense Color Conditioner, and CurlMix Mango/Tea Tree moisturizer and gel) 

Teas can be very beneficial when applied topically to the scalp or hair to moisturize or strengthen the hair depending on the ingredients. The main tea rinse that I use is the Green Tea Length Strengthening Tea Rinse from Belle Bar Organic. I mix it with another not yet released moisturizing tea rinse from the same brand. My hair can be sensitive to strengthening tea rinses. I find that when I mix the tea with a moisturizing rinse, my hair responds quite well.  There are three different ways that I utilize tea rinses.

1) Apply the tea rinse immediately before applying my deep conditioner.
2) Apply the tea rinse before I apply my leave-in conditioner/styling products for my twists.
3) Apply the tea rinse on my twists throughout the week.

Check out this video from @curlyproverbz explaining how she uses the Belle Bar Organic Green Tea Rinse. (Note that she does not recommend applying the tea daily to a wash and go.) I try to use tea rinses at least 1-2x a month.

Twists

Up until recently, I thought that the twist-out life was not for me. I tried and failed on numerous occasions while I was transitioning and despite all of the tutorials I watched, I struggled with twist-outs. But during this quarantine, I decided to twist my hair mostly out of necessity. I was slated to get a trim in mid-March but due to COVID-19, I won't be going to the hair salon for a long time.

(Pictured: Belle Bar Organic green tea and moisturizing tea rinses (mixed), LUS all-in-one Kinky/Coily Styler and Belle Bar Organic Oil (not yet released). 

Protective styles, when done properly can be beneficial so that our hair is less prone to breakage and split ends. While we want our hair to grow, it is equally as important that we retain our length. My favorite products for twists are below.

LUS All-in-One Kinky/Coily Styler 
Up North Naturals (Milk, Lotion, Jelly, and Butter (on my ends)
CurlMix Moisturizer and Gel 

I find that when I wash my hair every 4-5 days and use the aforementioned products, I have minimal shedding. Also, play around with the direction of your twists. My hair seems to perform best when I twist forward, in the same direction that I would twirl my hair if I finger coiled.

Wrap-Up

What have you been doing to take care of your hair during this quarantine? Are you spending more or less time on your hair than usual? Are you experimenting? Let me know in the comments below!